Appointment with history, first act. Roma's adventure in the Champions League semifinal begins today, an already extraordinary goal in itself but not yet sufficient to become a legend. For that you need to overcome Klopp's Liverpool, another outsider who almost by chance became one of the favorites to win the final. Yes, because at this point there are no longer any pre-established hierarchies and Rome has every right (or duty, depending on how you want to see it) to dream big.
“I'm very happy to play this game but I have the ambition to go on – confirmed Di Francesco – They play at home, but we too will have our fans in tow and a great team strength. It will be essential to play as a team, only if we are equal to them will we be able to compete. We will take the field to play football and impose our concepts, I have great respect for Klopp but I will face him head on."
A lot of emotion on the Giallorossi front but also the desire not to settle. At the beginning of the season the club, which yesterday closed a 40 million euro agreement with Qatar Airways, he would have signed with his eyes closed to find himself in the semifinals, but since appetite comes with eating, the smell of Kiev begins to whet.
And then the draw helped: Liverpool are very dangerous, all right, but Bayern Munich and Real Madrid would have been much worse. With them, Roma would have started at a clear disadvantage, but here they start substantially on an equal footing even if perhaps the Reds, due to a much superior European history, are slightly favourites.
“This will be a special match, many thought that the semi-final would have been City-Barcelona but we are here – explained Klopp with pride. - That's right, we both deserved to have come this far. We must have great respect for Roma, it's a fantastic opportunity both for us and for them. Neither we nor they are used to playing in the semi-final of the Champions League, so it will be even more special”.
Eyes on the 22 on the pitch, especially Salah. He is the great ex of the challenge and he is always the most dangerous man: his monstrous season (41 total goals, 31 in the Premier League) raised him from an excellent player to a real top player, with the final in Kiev as a dream for the definitive consecration. It is therefore logical that the Egyptian feels a lot about the match at Anfield, which will obviously see him as the protagonist from the start in Klopp's 4-3-3. Karius will be in goal, Arnold, Van Dijk, Lovren and Robertson in defense, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson and Milner in midfield, in attack, in addition to the Egyptian, the other untouchables Firmino and Mané.
For his part, Di Francesco will confirm the 3-4-2-1 already seen against Barcelona, a tactical move that worked great and that hopefully will bear the same results. In the back department, in front of Alisson's goal, Fazio, Manolas and Juan Jesus will act, in the 4-man midline with Florenzi, De Rossi, Strootman and Kolarov, with Under and Nainggolan in the trocar to support the lone striker Dzeko.
